What is an overclaim and how do I resolve one using the Overclaims Tool?

What is an overclaim?

An overclaim occurs when multiple claimants are claiming shares totaling over 100% on a musical work.

An overclaim establishes that there are conflicting shares reported on a work. Once a work moves into an overclaim, all claimants on the work will receive an automated email so all claimants can work together to resolve the overclaim by either reducing shares so the total equals 100% or by providing documentation to substantiate their claim.

  • The MLC provides information related to a work in overclaim via the Overclaims Tool in The MLC Portal; however, it is the responsibility of those claiming shares on the work to resolve the overclaim.

Please note: A work can only go into overclaim if shares are added to the work within 90 days of the work’s registration, based on the “Creation Date” in the work details.

If you are attempting to claim shares over 100% on a work that was created more than 90 days prior, you will need to reach out to The MLC Support team here.

Why am I involved in an overclaim?

If you’re involved in an overclaim that you did not initiate, that’s the result of another rightsholder for the work that you also have shares on is claiming a percentage of shares that puts the total claimed shares over 100%. Their claim has pushed the work into an overclaim status.

How do I resolve an overclaim?

Once a work goes into an overclaim status, there are three options you may choose to move towards a resolution.

Option 1 – Emailing all claimants involved on the work

When a work goes into overclaim, an email is automatically sent to all the Copyright contact types (or, if no Copyright contact type is provided, the Copyright users or Super users) associated with the Members claiming shares on the work.

This automated email will be sent from: publisherservices@themlc.com and will have the subject line: "Overclaim on your work [WORK TITLE] (Overclaim ID#[XXX])"

Reply All

You may reply all to that automated email to collaborate with the other claimants claiming shares on the work to resolve the overclaim.

Send Another Email

If you choose, you may also send an email to all claimants claiming shares on the work via The MLC Portal. To do so:

  1. Navigate to the Overclaims Tool located under Works Registration from the left-side menu.
  2. Locate the relevant work and click on it.
  3. Then, once on the Overclaim Detail page, scroll to the bottom and click the blue Email button under Email All Claimants.

A pop-up will appear showing an auto-filled email template with the relevant work information addressed to claimants claiming shares on the work. There will be an optional editable note section if you want to provide additional information. Click the blue Send button to send the email.

Option 2 – Amending or relinquishing your shares on the work

If the shares you are currently claiming need to be changed, you may choose to amend or relinquish your current share percentage.

Amend Your Shares

To amend (or update) the current percentage you are claiming on the work:

  1. Login to The MLC Portal and click Overclaims Tool from the left-side menu.
  2. On the Overclaims main page, find the relevant work and click it.
  3. On the Overclaim Detail page, scroll down and click the Amend Shares
  4. Now you will be able to update the share percentage in the “Collection Share” column in the appropriate name section. Once you have updated the shares, scroll down and click Confirm.
  5. You will receive a pop-up confirming that your shares will be updated in your catalog within 1-3 weeks.

Relinquish Your Shares

To relinquish (or remove) all of your shares on this work:

  1. Login to The MLC Portal and click Overclaims Tool from the left-side menu.
  2. On the Overclaims main page, find the relevant work and click it.
  3. On the Overclaim Detail page, scroll down and click the Relinquish Shares
  4. You will see a pop-up asking you to confirm that you want to relinquish all of your shares on the work. Click the Cancel button to go back; otherwise, click Confirm to relinquish your shares.
  5. You will see another pop-up confirming that your request to relinquish shares has been submitted. The work will be removed from your catalog in 1-2 business days.

Option 3 – Substantiate your claim

After reviewing the initial automated email alerting all involved claimants to an overclaim, you may choose to provide substantiative documentation maintaining your claim.

To do so, please reply all to the email with your documentation attached. From there, The MLC Publisher Services Team will follow-up with additional information.